Ashes Of Heaven Book 1 : Solar Calamity

[ For the last two months, strange disappearances have kept happening in Pine town, an area under the direct jurisdiction of the Crimson Snow sect. The local authorities have failed again and again to find any trails regarding these incidents and the townsfolk are restless. Certain clues suggest that the disappearances may be influenced by demonic cultivators or at least some organizations with dangerous individuals who cannot be caught by mere mortals. The local authorities have requested for the help of the sect to solve this issue. ]

[ Estimated Danger: Level- 2 ( shouldn't exceed opponents with strength higher than the seventh layer of physique transformation realm) ]

[ Payment: 100 - 150 spirit stones based on the rate of completion ]

[ Credit: 25-40 ]

Han Xuhan read the leaflet Mu Ran had handed him a few moments ago.

"Did you really find this in the Task Administration Pavilion, boss?" Han Xuhan enquired. It looked too good to not have been snatched up by senior disciples with high cultivation levels.

Mu Ran surreptitiously winked at him and said in a low voice, "of course not! I charmed one of the pretty seniors working there and asked her for a favor. How could she refuse THIS?!"

Pointing at his own body, Mu Ran grinned like a maniac. But Han Xuhan's suspicious expression made his grin fade.

"What? Do you think I'm boasting, underling? Come with me to the Pavilion; I'll show you-"

"Ah, of course not, boss! I'm just naturally a bit paranoid about this kind of missions. I have full trust in you. But..."

"So what is it?" Mu Ran said in irritation.

"Boss, what about me? I can't fight against anyone at the seventh layer of the physique transformation realm! How do you expect me to be of any help? Heck, I could die or get fatally injured! Are you gonna be responsible for my death?"

"I'll be there, don't worry. Even if you die, I'll just find your next incarnation after rebirth. I'll soon become powerful enough to do that."

"What the-? Do you even know how high your cultivation has to be to accomplish a task like that?"

"Isn't it possible as long as I enter the heavenly court as a celestial? Those people are supposed to be in charge of the life and death of all living beings, aren't they?"

"A celestial? How many realms above ours is that?" Han Xuhan said in desperation.

"I don't know. Why does it matter, though? I'll reach it however high that realm is."

"How are you so sure that you'll become that powerful?"

"Why would I not? Is there any particular reason for me to NOT become powerful?"

"...I-what if I reincarnate into an ant or something?"

"Then I'll just kill you so that you reincarnate again!"

"You know, I'd be touched if your disregard for my life wasn't so blatant, boss."

"Aren't you supposed to be a reincarnator or something? When did you begin to value your life so much? It's not like you're having a good time in this life, with that shit physique and all..." Mu Ran grumbled.

"...You know what? Forget I ever complained. What the hell is this credit thing again?"

Han Xuhan gave up halfway through his complaint and decided to change the subject.

"It was mentioned in the rulebook, right? Somebody said it was. Check yours and see what it says."

"Didn't you read your- no, never mind."

Han Xuhan rummaged through his hut and came back with the thin book, carefully studying the index.

"Found it. Whoa! If we can earn five thousand credits, we can get promoted to the inner court directly!"

Mu Ran's interest was piqued. They didn't know much about the super secretive inner court of the Crimson Snow sect. But the rumors said inner court disciples received not only a higher status, but also fixed amounts of payments, free lessons and resources regularly. Any outer court disciple would be tempted by these perks.

"Then we'll have to try our best, Xuhan! Start preparing, we're gonna wipe the floor with those demonic cultivators!"

Carefully storing the mission token and their identity badges as disciples of the Crimson Snow sect, Han Xuhan and Mu Ran packed up for a few days outside the sect and bade farewell to their fellow disciples and seniors of the black sheep mountain peak.

Surprisingly, their sudden act of bravery as the first disciples to take up such missions among their batch didn't raise any particular commotion.

Han Xuhan probed an older disciple he was familiar with regarding this, unable to understand the lack of reaction from them.

"Junior, all of us are the disciples of the Black Sheep Mountain peak here. What's there to hide? One of the few common traits of the disciples here is sheer stupidity. In every generation of disciples, some of these stupid ones always try to take the mantle. It's nothing new. Is cultivating inside your hut peacefully so difficult?

"No, not at all! But you still want to go catch demonic cultivators, criminals whom you have no idea about, just because of the monetary reward...aren't you actively seeking death?"

Han Xuhan was stumped by this answer. It was true that neither he nor Mu Ran had any idea about how to catch those criminals. But as far as he remembered from xianxia novels, demonic cultivators were usually just overpowered serial killers practicing some shady cultivation techniques that required dead bodies or something similarly gory and disgusting.

Even scums like Xiao Wang fit the definition of a demonic cultivator.

He wasn't sure if the demonic cultivators of this world were something similar to those creeps. But even after asking around, the definitions of demonic cultivators he got were quite vague. Outer court disciples rarely handled such cases, not to mention, his source of information was the trashy disciples of his own mountain peak.

Caught in a bind, Han Xuhan decided to pay a visit to his master, elder Daheng. Suspiciously enough, his boss seemed to have vanished from his hut in the meantime, nowhere to be found. Xuhan couldn't help but wonder what kind of preparation a protagonist would take for a mission like this as he walked alone to the elder's palace on top of the peak.

Elder Daheng always appeared to be busy cultivating inside his palace. Unlike most elders, he didn't have any particular duty to attend to for reasons unknown, and neither did he seem motivated to go out of the sect to seek fortuitous opportunities. He was like the shut-in NEET of the family, always cooped up inside his room.

Noticing Xuhan, he gestured for him to enter his room and take a seat. After the pleasantries, Han Xuhan quickly moved on to the real topic.

"Master, what are demonic cultivators?"

"Ah, I'm not sure. I've never met a real one in my life."

"...Are they that rare?"

"I suppose so. Not many have actually encountered a true demonic cultivator even in this sect. Usually, the so-called demonic cultivators we hear about are just one or two crazy criminals who veer off the traditional paths and commit atrocities to fuel their cultivation techniques. The source of such techniques is never clear. But you can blame shady markets and gatherings among rogue cultivators for that. These sorts of criminals are just scary in name. They might practice demonic techniques, but calling them demonic cultivators is a bit too much of a stretch."

"Then master, have you never even heard of a true demonic cultivator?"

"I have. But few of those descriptions left a particularly strong impression. Most of the things I've heard about demonic cultivators seem to be rumors.

For example, you can consider the fact that there are no actual 'demons' in our world. The only people who'll tell you otherwise are a bunch of cultists whose beliefs and rationality are...questionable. So calling some insane practitioner a demonic cultivator is more of a condemnation than a literal title."

"But master, I've heard that demonic cultivators have unstable cultivation bases because most of their techniques rely on evil deeds and committing atrocities. They have to carry the risks of fatal backlashes too..."

Han Xuhan tried to recall the bits and pieces of information he had read about typical demonic cultivators in his previous life and probed his master.

"Backlashes? Unstable cultivation base?"

Elder Daheng started laughing, shaking his head.

"Disciple Xuhan, do you think that it's possible to evade, hide and toy with the investigation forces and spies of dozens of reputable sects around the seven regions with such horrible cultivation techniques?

I know for a fact that our sect master himself, along with five other sect masters close in terms of cultivation base, tried to locate the headquarters of the demonic cultivators.

They returned empty-handed. Can you imagine that? A whole sect that can hide from them?

True demonic cultivators, if they actually exist, aren't opponents you can fight, kid, not with your measly cultivation base. Why are you so curious about them, anyway?"

"...Because martial brother Mu Ran and I accepted a mission that may lead to a scuffle with low-level demonic cultivators."

"And the dumbass of the year award goes to you, my disciple. With your second-layer cultivation base, you want to beat demonic cultivators? The sect wouldn't issue such dangerous missions to outer court disciples. It's probably just some exaggerated details about some crazy rogue cultivators. If you insist on going, I suggest you try your best not to start a fight. Leave the action to Mu Ran...That uppity brat deserves a good beating."

Xuhan nodded obediently, pretending not to hear the last sentence. That was the original plan anyway.

Afterward, he made some small talk with the elder before returning to his own hut for a last-minute inspection. Little Zhanxian, the skeleton he had nurtured, would accompany them as well. Han Xuhan now had enough control over the skeletal monarch technique to actively summon and unsummon Zhanxian. He couldn't wait to use his cultivation technique in actual battles and see the results!

How many otakus and chunni kids dream of such an opportunity? To shout out an intimidating name of a technique and wreak havoc over their opponents while standing in cool postures...

It was a disgustingly cool daydream.